Women and Outdoor Exercise

New research has found that women who exercised outdoors were in a better mood and exercised longer than their counterparts who exercised indoors.

A small study in Canada was conducted on women in their 50s and 60s which suggests a need to promote more outdoor tailored exercise programs for older women to help keep them healthy. Participants in the outdoor exercise group had a greater sense of tranquility and attended more exercise sessions compared to those who only worked out indoors.

Physical activity is vital for health, wellness, and the ability to keep functioning in the older years of life. Less than 9% of older American adults get at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.

Physical activity is especially important in post-menopausal women because it helps decrease the prevalence of chronic disease, cancer, disabilities, infections, and reduces the risk of dementia.

Tips:

Find the right activity: it should be fun and motivating

Remain active: make it a lifestyle

Start off slow, don’t burn yourself out too quickly

Reward yourself for doing a good job

Get a friend to be your workout buddy

Look at other ways to keep healthy (diet, lifestyle) for even better results